Fredi Gonzalez and the Braves have not used the same batting order twice in 2015

Through the first 26 games of the season, the Braves have used 26 different batting orders. Repeat: Not a single order has been repeated so far in 2015. Four players have shared cleanup duty; eight different players have batted sixth. The most consistent spot in the order -- third -- has largely been split between Nick Markakis (14 games) and Freddie Freeman (11 games), with Jonny Gomes filling the hole once on April 21.  

There is only one logical assumption to be made: On Opening Day, Gonzalez and the Braves must have set out on a quest to bat in every possible order allowed by their 25-man roster.

#BravesAreBack! Here's today's lineup - watch on @SportSouth and listen on @BravesRadioNet pic.twitter.com/ZE1WhS9p5g

- Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 6, 2015

Sure, the Braves have adhered to baseball conventions so far -- even with a new batting order per game, the pitcher has typically filled the ninth spot -- but the season is early. It won't be long before Gonzalez shirks tradition and crafts his lineups with no regard for positional specification. Eventually, a pitcher like Julio Teheran will play shortstop and bat fifth.  

Once Fredi Gonzalez begins ignoring positions and uses all of the Braves players interchangeably -- as in, everyone on the 25-man roster is eligible to start at any given position for a game -- he'll have 741,354,768,000 batting order options. At a rate of one per game, it will take Gonzalez 4,576,264,000 seasons to accomplish his presumed goal. Should the Braves reach the postseason in any of those 4.5 billion seasons, that number becomes slightly more manageable. 

What happens, you may ask, if/when players get injured and sent to the disabled list and new players are called up? With each roster change, Gonzalez's batting order possibilities grow exponentially. They will eventually approach infinity, becoming incalculable by the human mind. Gonzalez's original 741 billions will not only seem puny in comparison, but also laughably accomplishable.

While it may be a daunting task, Gonzalez and his team seem to be forging ahead -- it looks like it'll be 27 batting orders as of Tuesday night:

#Braves lineup: Markakis 9 Simmons 6 Freeman 3 Pierzynski 2 Gomes 7 K. Johnson 5 Peterson 4 Maybin 8 Miller 1

- Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) May 5, 2015